No Man's Sky is out!
And we’ve played a bunch! We were both excited for the game, but
avoided a lot of hype and details being released because we wanted
to experience the game for ourselves. That said, we have mixed
feelings about the game.

The first 10-15 hours of the
game are brilliant. The first time you see a new element of the
game, it is breathtaking and truly a unique gaming experience. It
takes about 15 hours of playtime to start to see the limits of the
procedural generation, which takes some of the wonder
away.

The
game is basically a survival and gathering game more than
exploration. You gather resources, craft upgrades for either
yourself or your spaceship, travel to a new planet/solar system,
and repeat the process. Inventory management is a big part of the
game, which was a letdown for us, but that didn’t take away from
the wonder we felt at discovering new aspects of the
universe.

Our
favorite things? Glad you asked! Aliens! Ruins! Leaving a planet
and seeing space gradually appear is amazing, and coming in from
orbit and seeing the entire planet take up more and more of your
view is equally astonishing.

It's
basically a single player game, and we love that. Multiplayer would
be awesome in some regards, but the idea of being alone in this
vast, uncharted universe is too appealing to want to share it. The
online community for the game is growing, but we are glad that it’s
an experience, more than a game at this point.

Ps4
vs PC (controller vs keyboard and mouse). The PC controls
seem to be more intuitive than gamepad because of the virtual mouse
you have to control with an analog stick on PS4, but the tradeoff
is being able to lounge on your couch and explore a new universe.
So it’s kind of a tie.

Unlimited exploration actually takes the
pressure off for completionism. You can't complete the Galaxy,
unlike most open world games. Your first landing on a new planet is
always super cool. The unknown is fun, and that’s the best part
about the game. They got the feeling of discovery down. The
problems come in that there are always colonies and structures
scattered on the planets, which even makes the idea of “discovery”
feel iffy. We would prefer totally barren planets that we could be
100% alone on.

In
the end, it’s a strangely compelling game that neither of us
actually can say if it’s fun. But it’s an experience that we’re
happy to have had, and we intend to keep on playing it. Sometimes,
games can be about the experience and not about winning. And that’s
kind of what No Man’s Sky is about. Or could be, given a few polish
patches.

So
who’s it for? Well, it’s an indie game that was marketed like a
Triple-A title, and somehow, that makes it fall between the two
markets and be slightly disappointing. It’s kind of slow if
it's the only thing you're doing, so it goes great with audiobooks
and podcasts or riding the exercise bike over the winter. If you’re
a space junkie, grab this game now. If you like crafting and
survival games, pick it up. And if you’re just curious and want to
see what the game has to offer? Wait until it’s $30. It would have
been a stellar game at $30, but at Triple-A $60, there are just too
many nits to be picked. When it’s either cheaper or patched up,
that’s when the game will really hit its stride and find its
audience.

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About the Podcast

Being an adult is hard. So is being a geek. And an adult geek? Well, that's where we come in.
We're Beej and Void, and we've got more than a little experience in that area. We are life-long geeks and have managed to bring our geekery with us into adulthood and still be somewhat functional adults--you know, with families and jobs and that sort of thing.
We don't do toxic, and we don't do nerdrage. Our views on geekdom are positive and optimistic, and we believe that the most important part of being a geek is the people you get to geek out with.
Tightly focused discussions on specific topics drive the show. Striving to illustrate that it is entirely possible to be mega-geeks and responsible adults, we want to be your friend and create and open and positive geek community for everyone.
We started this podcast because we really want there to be a safe, welcoming, positive geek community for everyone. We want to talk about stuff we love, make friends, and most importantly, make sure that everyone feels appreciated and that there's a place for them. So whether your love is video games, comic books, movies, TV, fitness, computers and tech, or whatever else...come geek out with us. Let's be friends.